Many pundits took to Twitter to voice a conflicting range of opinions.

Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan said: “Toby Young forced out by howling Twitter mob. Great shame. I don’t defend his more offensive tweets or columns but I do think he would have brought a valuable & distinctive perspective to university education based on his past few years of dedicated commitment to free schools.”

The shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, said: “The Toby Young saga has cast great doubt on the judgment of the PM who failed to sack him in the first place. Then yesterday we had the spectacle of government universities minister defending his appointment in parliament, he had to go. Tory cronyism could not save his job…”

Defending Mr Young, universities minister Jo Johnson tweeted: “Toby Young's track record setting up & supporting free schools speaks for itself. His decision to stand down from the OfS board and repeat unreserved apologies for inappropriate past remarks reflects his character better than the one-sided caricature from his armchair critics.”